So this weekend we took a trip to Pisa and Lucca…Pisa as in the leaning tower of, Lucca as in, not our bartender from the Lions Well. The bus left at 7am…we were pissed. So after about an hour of struggling to get ourselves together, Casey (our RA) frantically gets everyone whose left in the building out and down the hill…in this process we all felt that it was ok to stop and get some breakfast on our way out…ya I guess it wasn’t ok. When we got to the buses I quickly realized that the seating was made for human beings 5’5” and under. The over 2 hour ride was NOT fun, or comfortable…but I ended up passing out and missing whatever views we were seeing. I woke up to Marco talking to us over the loud speaker, he was in such a good mood that day.
As soon as we got off the bus we were greeted by warm sunshine and what looked like the Jamaican bobsled team trying to sell us “Bling Bling”. (We proceeded to run into them all day “mama you want some bling bling?”)
The first landmark we saw that day was a McDonalds train…I’m serious.
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| shoutout to america |
So after a short walk to through what could only be described as the tackiest tourist crap ever (…I will admit I really want a tshirt or tacky sweatshirt…sue me. ) we finally arrive to the one and only leaning tower of pizza…next to some dome thing and a cathedral. For our Renaissance class we had to go tour the dome thing and then go through like an indoor/outdoor cemetery…after this Bailey and I were getting really antsy…all we wanted to do was take dumb tourist photos…you know the kind that you’re holding up the tower or pushing it over.
After another lecture about something…aka Bailey and I decided to be “artsy and hell” and take pictures of ourselves in the reflection of each others sunglasses…hers turned out good…mine was…not so much.
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| so artsy |
FINALLY we were set free to do whatever we want…we sprinted to where all the Japanese tourists were (they always know what they’re doing when it comes to touristy stuff) and set ourselves up to take the best pics possible, ass seen below….
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| pretending to be japanese tourists |
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Mark Armstrong, this is for you.
POKE! |
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| I'm actually this big. |
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| sarah's so strong |
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| so strong |
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| chillen |
After running out of ideas and just getting tired of balancing on top of whatever we were balancing on, we decided to walk through the markets. Sarah got a new pair of sunglasses, Bailey looked for a scarf but never found one that met her expectations and I got another thing for the townhouse…he said it was a tablecloth…but after I opened it up its more like a cloth poster…I bought it with some leftover dolla dolla bills from America so I was happy…oh and its not like a table cloth with flowers on it or anything like that, it’s got recipe for “Limoncello” on it and its covered in lemons…obviously I had to get it…Limoncelli, Limoncello(…it’s a sign I’m meant to be a bartender I think)
At the end of the markets we found a McDonalds (but it as soon as you walked in it seemed that it was named 1955..weird)…we went in. It was an experience. The menu items had some similarities, but I can promise you I will not be ordering a “chicken legend” anytime soon…they also served chicken wings, which I thought was weird…(I would kill for a plate of boneless hot wings and ranch…but I’m def not getting chicken wings from McDonalds) and they had a separate area called McCaffe….it was surprisingly impressive. A big layout of pastries and chocolate, a million different choices of coffee…oh and before we finish talking about this place…their bathroom was like…well I felt like I was at a nightclub…oh and they had a big giant cardboard cutout that said 1955 on it….it was weird…but Bailey and I still took a pic with it…as people stared.
Since I’ve been in Italia the best coffee I’ve had was from that McDonalds…true story. “Ba da da da daaaa, I’m Lovin’ it.”
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| we think we're cool...the lady next to us..she didnt |
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| MCDONALDS |
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mcdonalds coffee next to the leaning tower of pisa
1 pt for America |
Our day is far from over..Pisa..check (basically it has a market, the leaning tower and a McDonalds) next on our list is Lucca (known for an antique festival…we were lucky enough to miss it). After a short 30 minute bus ride where my lack of filter and amazing geographic knowledge (or lack of) had everyone entertained along with Bailey’s sugar high, we had arrived in Lucca. Oh and ps. On the bus ride Marco and I bonded some more discussing comics…(yes comics…whatever I went with it)
I was ready to just get a glass of wine, some gelato and lay out all day…I didn’t get to do that…we started with a little lecture and then we were on our own. A bunch of us went out to lunch, where we all had pizza that touched our souls. Amazing. After enjoying our lunch outside while talking about all of the people walking past us (hopefully none of them knew American…er, English) we made a group decision that we all needed gelato.
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| so good |
Lucky enough there was this AMAZING and CHEAP place right near us that had the creamiest gelato I have had since I’ve been here. I had…I think tiramisu and this chocolate amazement that had big chuncks of chocolate and some fruit on it…it was REEEEEALLY good.
Now my favorite part of the day came around…while we were all enjoying our gelato…we decided to lay out in the sun…I was so happy. As we napped on the stairs of this big important church (we had a lecture on it earlier), Dorothy and I proceeded to be sarcastic assholes about everything. I love this girl, I don’t know what I’d do if she wasn’t here. Literally, she is my savior. Oh and she bought this great gold and black ring at a vintage store that day. Before you know it Marco had shown up (yaaaaay!)
Marco is slowly warming up to us; while we were on the stairs still contemplating our next step in conquering Lucca he talked to us about his favorite comics, which one he reads, and then talked to us about his jacket…in detail; why he liked it, why he bought it, where he bought us. We’re basically like bestfriends now (ok not really but we’re taking our relationship slow…I want this to last..hahah)
After we part ways with Marco (sigh) we decide to go shopping…I bought a leather bag…again. But this one I needed. From a distance it looks black, but take a step closer and its really a dark deep rich brown. Its smaller, with silver accents…its great for going out with…which was what I was looking for. I needed a small crossbody bag that’s not gonna cramp my style if I’m dancing on a table or in a small area. Trust me, trying to break it down with a bigger bag…NOT FUN. Oh and I bought a belt…its alright, but I needed one.
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| food coma |
While leaving the leather shop we ran into..i don’t even know…seemed like a protest/parade. During this catastrophe, Bailey and I were separated from the rest of the group and decided we might as well just go up to the park and people watch. Initially our plans included people watching while swinging, when a little girl took our swings (bitch..she saw us walking towards them) we decided to walk up this giant hill…when we got there it was a let down. Basically it was an old aquaduct/damn thing and like a bike path. We walked around a bit…there was basically a cliff where you could fall 2 stories…maybe it was higher…and break your legs on impact…ok I’m exaggerating but I was scared and couldn’t walk to the edge. Ok so we walked around, it was like a big bike path, bunch of people were there..all with little dogs. We came to 2 conclusions while we were at the park:
1. in Italy little dogs are valued more than big dogs
2. everyone is always so put together…even when they’re just going to the park (we saw an older woman running in a leather jacket..WHAAA?!?)
Our time in Lucca was dwindling, so on our way back to the bus we stopped, PAID to use the restroom...it was $0.60 for 5 minutes…which made me think, what if you were using it to hook up in and your 5 minutes ran out..would the door just open…we didn’t stay the whole 5 minutes to see what happened..the bathroom was pretty gross.
Before we got on the bus we got gelato again…it was a HUUUGE disappointment…it was basically flavored whipped cream…gross.
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| protest? parade? who knows |
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| dangerous. |
So there was the day in a nutshell…not so exciting. Now that we’ve settled down and gotten into some kind of routine our lives aren’t that juicey.
On the bus ride home I got all sentimental…(god I’m such a loser). I don’t know if it was the great views we were seeing as the sun set or the slow jam music I was blasting in my ipod, but I was all like (not out loud, just thinking) “omg I’m in Italy. Like this is where I live right now….shit.”
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